Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 21

Devanagari script

ब्रह्मा तेषां शतं यावत्स जीवति पितामहः । सांप्रतं चाष्टवर्षीयः षण्मासश्चैव संस्थितः

Transliteration

brahmā teṣāṃ śataṃ yāvatsa jīvati pitāmahaḥ | sāṃprataṃ cāṣṭavarṣīyaḥ ṣaṇmāsaścaiva saṃsthitaḥ

Translation

వాటిలో పితామహుడైన బ్రహ్మ శతం (అటువంటి) కాలమానాల వరకు జీవిస్తాడు; ప్రస్తుతం ఆయన ఎనిమిది సంవత్సరాలు మరియు ఆరు నెలలు పూర్తిచేసి స్థితుడై ఉన్నాడు।

Word by Word

• brahmā: Brahmā
• brahmā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन — (Brahmā)

• teṣām: of them
• teṣām: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), बहुवचन — ‘तेषाम्’ (of them)

• śatam: a hundred
• śatam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन — (a hundred)

• yāvat: as long as / up to
• yāvat: Kriya-visheshana (Limit/अवधि)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yāvat (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (परिमाण/अवधिबोधक) — ‘as much as/so long as’

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन — ‘सः’ (he)

• jīvati: lives
• jīvati: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √jīv (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन — ‘जीवति’ (lives)

• pitāmahaḥ: the grandsire
• pitāmahaḥ: Apposition (Same as subject/समानाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pitāmaha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन — (the grandsire)

• sāṃpratam: at present
• sāṃpratam: Kāla (Time/काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sāṃprata (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (कालवाचक) — ‘now/at present’

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चयबोधक) — ‘and’

• aṣṭavarṣīyaḥ: eight years old
• aṣṭavarṣīyaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: aṣṭa + varṣīya (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन — ‘अष्ट-वर्षीयः’ (eight years old)

• ṣaṇmāsaḥ: six months
• ṣaṇmāsaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ṣaṭ + māsa (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन — ‘षण्-मासः’ (six months)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चयबोधक) — ‘and’

• eva: indeed
• eva: Discourse (Emphasis/अवधारण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (अवधारण) — ‘indeed/just’

• saṃsthitaḥ: has elapsed / stands
• saṃsthitaḥ: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-√sthā (धातु) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्ययान्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन — ‘संस्थितः’ (has remained/stands; is completed/elapsed)

Speaker

Sūta (deduced)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Brahmā seated on a lotus, with a vast calendar-like cosmic backdrop; a sage narrates that Brahmā lives for a hundred such measures and indicates the current 'age' of Brahmā as eight years and six months in divine reckoning.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmā
• Pitāmaha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It expands perspective: even the creator’s lifespan is measured—encouraging humility and steadiness in dharma and pilgrimage.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not specified in this verse; it provides cosmological framing within the chapter’s tīrtha discourse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a doctrinal statement about Brahmā’s lifespan in the given scale.